The present invention relates to product design systems, and more specifically, but not exclusively, relates to a product design system that allows for product design over a network.
Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems are used in a wide variety of areas such as engineering product design, and development. Although CAD and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systems have reduced the amount of work required in product development and manufacturing, CAD/CAM systems, due to their complexity and cost, have created obstacles to rapid product development within companies. CAD/CAM systems in most companies are only used in isolated engineering/drafting departments. Even simple product designs require the assistance of the engineering/drafting department, because only the draftspersons and engineers within the department have the expertise to operate the complex CAD/CAM systems. The resources of an engineering/drafting department can be limited, and this in turn limits access to the CAD/CAM systems. This limited access can create a bottleneck in the product development cycle. Further adding complication to the design process is the increased popularity of the internet. The internet has increased the pressure on organizations to reduce product development time. Further, the internet has increased the demand for personalized product designs.
Thus, needs remain for further contributions in this area of technology.
One form of the present invention includes a method of designing products. The method includes operating an administration system separate from an associated computer aided design system. The administration system is configured to facilitate creation of relationships between object properties for a number of different object design components from within and external to the computer aided design system. The administration system has an output device. The method further includes receiving a first input corresponding to a selection of a first object design, retrieving the object properties and values of the object properties for the first object design from the computer aided design system, and displaying the first object design on the output device. The method further includes receiving a second input corresponding to a selection of a second object design for interaction with the first object design, retrieving the object properties and values of the object properties for the second object design from the computer aided design system, and displaying the second object design on the output device. The method further includes receiving a third input corresponding to a selection of at least one of the values associated with one of the object designs, and displaying on the output device the combination of the first and second object designs in accordance with the selected value.
Another form of the present invention includes an apparatus for network facilitated designs using a computer aided design system. The apparatus includes a computer aided design system independent interface coupled to the computer aided design system. The apparatus further includes an administration interface for selecting multiple drawings and associated properties from the computer aided design system through the independent interface in response to selections by a user over the network and for responding to user inputs received over the network to select properties of the objects represented by the drawings to achieve compatibility between multiple objects, so that the objects will correspond to related objects which cooperatively work together.